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Walk 'n' Roll In-Depth is an editorial collection delivered to you featuring articles, profiles and stories about the people and programs that power Local Motion! Tell us what you think by emailing us or talking to us on Facebook!
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Build it For Isabella
 People for Bikes has launched a powerful new campaign to guide towns and cities in designing streets that work for everyone. It's called "Build it for Isabella", based on the 12-year old girl in your community who is "exploring her freedom, but still likes to play."
The goal of the "Build it for Isabella" campaign is to highlight how important it is to design bike lanes so they work for all ages and all abilities, for the least experienced and most vulnerable bicyclists among us. While conventional bike lanes are fine for experienced bike riders, they just aren't good enough for kids, older folks, novice cyclists, families with children in tow, and others who need an extra margin of safety to feel comfortable on the street.
Making our streets safe for everyone is at the heart of Local Motion's advocacy work. We work to bring together people of all walks of life around the idea that our streets have to work for kids, families, elders, and others who are not "black diamond" bike riders...
[Read the full story here]
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Bike Care 101 Embraces Female Ridership
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Christine Hill from Bike Recycle Vermont
works alongside a class participant
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Four bicycles hang from the bike stands at Bike Recycle Vermont. The owners stand in front of their bikes in the stands waiting for the class to begin. For many of the people at BRV tonight, this is the first time they've looked at their bicycle in a stand. One woman turns the pedals, plays with the shifter. Another lets out an audible "ah-ha!" as she discovers the source of her squeaky brakes. The bicycle is becoming demystified even before class has begun.
The Bike Care 101 series is for women, femme, trans, and all non-male identifying people. Bicycling is traditionally a male dominated environment, as are most trade professions. To help get more women and female-identifying people riding bicycles, BRV and the Old Spokes Home have partnered to offer clinics that make space for females to learn bicycle mechanics in a safe and supportive environment...
[Read the full story here]
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Faces of Local Motion: Meet Thomas!
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Thomas Cohen, parking one of the many,
many bikes he has taken care of
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You may have seen, or had a friendly conversation with, Thomas Cohen, at any number of events over the years. While at Local Motion Thomas has been the Secure Bike Parking Manager, the Assistant Bike Ferry Manager, and as we prepare to wish him goodbye he is holding down the fort at the Trailside Center. Truly a jack of all trades, Tom will be greatly missed by the whole team. Before he leaves us we talked with Thomas about his role in developing the Secure Bike Parking program...
LM: How did you come to work at Local Motion?
TC: I found out about Local Motion when I was interning for the BTV Bike Cluster, an internship that board member and UVM professor, Luis Vivanco, set me up with in 2011. I met Chapin (Local Motion's former Executive Director) at the National Bike Summit in Washington D.C...
[Read the full interview here]
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Our Favorite Bike Ferry Stories of the Summer!
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One of many riders sharing their stories on
the Bike Ferry this summer
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Summer 2014 has been one for the books. With daily Bike Ferry service, extended hours on Thursday nights, over 10,000 riders and - of course - the addition of the new 20-passenger boat, we can't help but look back and smile. This summer brought a lot of additions to what Local Motion offers Bike Ferry riders, but more than anything else it left us with some unforgettable stories.
Deckhand Frank Malaki recalled an exchange he had on one of his first mornings on the ferry when a big man rode up to 'The Cut'. "He was built like a college football player, not a road cyclist," Frank recalls, "he was wearing a student-sized backpack and riding what looked like a new bike." The man said he wanted to take the ferry across and, striking up conversation, Frank politely asked where he was traveling to and from. "Montreal today," the man responded (over 85 miles away from the South Hero dock) and went on to say that he started in New York City....just two days before...
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